IRONICALLY, HALE FOUND it even more difficult to keep his family secluded in the Last Frontier. In part, this was because the elements were so much harsher; he needed more assistance from outsiders to keep his clan warm, healthy, and fed. But his biggest problem was money. In purchasing Hillbilly Heaven, Hale had saddled himself with substantial debt. So, beginning in 2003, he allowed Joseph, Joshua, David, and Moses to work for a hunting guide several hours north of McCarthy.

Free from their father's control, his oldest sons began violating his prohibition against attending church with other families. At one service, they met Jim Buckingham, a born-again former U.S. Army officer from Palmer, Alaska, who introduced them to his nine children. Friendships quickly developed, and in the summer of 2004 the Hale family went to Palmer to meet the Buckinghams. The gathering, in general, was positive. But during a later, smaller gathering, Buckingham noticed bruises on Elishaba and grew suspicious. He confronted Hale about them, but Hale denied that anything was going on. Buckingham then began speaking openly, in front of Joseph and Joshua, about the right relationship between a father and his children, and not long after, Hale forbade his family from talking with the Buckinghams again, claiming they weren't truly saved.

"That was always the way it worked," Joseph told me. "Just when we'd start getting close to another family, my dad would find something wrong with their doctrine and prevent us from seeing them again."

Meanwhile, McCarthy was slowly falling out of love with the Hales. At the beginning of the 2004 summer tourist season, Hale stationed some of his youngest children at a popular footbridge, where, dressed in ragged outfits, they sold tickets for a shuttle between McCarthy and the Kennecott mine, a service already provided by other area families. Before long, there was growing sentiment that the Hales were everywhere—stealing business, grazing their horses next to the airport's gravel runway. Worst of all, the family had set up a squatter's camp down the street from the McCarthy Lodge to sell their tourist services, and their livestock and detritus were spilling out into the public right of way.

By September, the town was fed up. On a Saturday afternoon, Stevens Harper, a park ranger whose driveway had been partially blocked by the family's operation, arrived with a bulldozer to remove the camp, and two dozen residents gathered to support him. Hale backed down, and later that fall, he acquired a parcel at the end of the McCarthy Road, near John Adams's house. He erected a few small structures, but the camp lacked plumbing, electricity, and a phone, so the family frequently turned to Adams to borrow tools or make a phone call to Hillbilly Heaven.

Winter's short daylight hours came to McCarthy, making one hazy day bleed into the next. Things were quiet until the morning of January 10, 2005, when Joseph and Joshua showed up at Adams's door looking concerned. They said that their father was not feeling well and that they were going to head out to Hillbilly Heaven.

After they left, Adams walked over to the shed to see if everything was all right. It was silent as he approached, and when he knocked on the door, Hale invited him in. The drab, unfurnished space was dimly lit and cluttered with supplies. Elishaba was standing in one corner with her arms crossed. Hale was in the other, leaning on his cane, glowering. Adams asked if everything was all right; both muttered yes. Adams was suspicious, but didn't feel it was his place to intervene, so he returned home.

Elishaba would later describe what was happening—a "correction" brought about by her questioning if it was right for Hale to have sexual relations with his own daughter—in an Anchorage courtroom: "You punched me with those trained fists," she said, addressing Hale. "You nailed and wired the door shut so I could not get out . . . If I cried out, you would tear me to pieces—those were your words."

After two days of severe physical and sexual abuse, Hale escorted Elishaba back to Hillbilly Heaven, where he made her wear a ski mask to hide her wounds. By now, Jim Buckingham's example had begun to sink in among Elishaba's older brothers. When Elishaba showed them her bruises, they confronted Hale in front of the family, demanding that he admit to his sinful behavior, repent, and vow never to touch their sister again. Hale went berserk. He punched Joshua in the face, breaking his nose and knocking him out cold.

Not long after, Joseph, Joshua, and three of their younger brothers slipped away in the night, escaping to the town of Glennallen, where they took shelter with the Hoffmans, a family they'd met while guiding. Elishaba and the others remained trapped—partially by fear, but mostly by a conviction that betraying their father would cost them their souls.